ICMYI:

Climate Signals now has a new look, and a new website to go with it! The website is a resource for attribution science connecting indicators of human-caused climate change to extreme events including wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, and floods. Make sure to check it out.

Ida's Impact On Louisiana Education Continues: As the accounting of, and recovery from, Hurricane Ida drags on, nearly 10% of all schoolchildren are still stuck at home as school systems and local officials struggle to recover from Hurricane Ida. The 70,000 students still unable to go back to school are mainly located in just five parishes in the southeastern part of the state. “It’s kind of hard to comprehend the amount of damage,” St. Charles Parish Superintendent Ken Oertling told state lawmakers Tuesday. Hurricane Ida, which intensified incredibly rapidly over exceptionally warm Gulf waters bore many of the hallmarks of climate change, which is caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels. The financial toll of Hurricane Ida on local school districts is immense. Lafourche Parish alone faces an estimated $100 in damages, nearly two-thirds of its $160 million annual budget. Ida's impacts on Louisiana children's education goes beyond just school buildings of course. “Our students can’t return, there is nowhere for them to live. [Whether they live in] apartment complexes, housing developments, trailer parks they haven’t been able to return,” Calcasieu Parish Superintendent Karl Bruchhaus told lawmakers. (AP; Repair costs: The Advocate; Housing: WAFB; Overall recovery: AP; Climate Signals background: 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season)

23 Species Now Extinct, More Threatened By Climate: Wildlife officials declared 23 species extinct, Wednesday, and warned climate change could make future extinctions more common. All 23 were listed as endangered species in the 1960s, and the decision more than triples the number of species removed from the list due to extinction since the Endangered Species Act was enacted almost 50 years ago. Also Wednesday, the Interior Department announced it was finalizing the revocation of a Trump-era rule that allowed polluting industries to kill migratory birds as long as they didn't do it on purpose. (Extinctions: AP, Washington Post $, E&E News, CBS, New York Times $, Earther, Axios, Reuters; Migratory bird rule: E&E News, Politico Pro $, Wall Street Journal $, Washington Post $)

NC Civil Rights Groups Call PS On Smithfield-Dominion Proposal: Civil rights groups in North Carolina are petitioning the U.S. EPA for review of a state approval of plans to produce "biogas" from industrial hog manure. The Southern Environmental Law Center, the Duplin County branch of the NAACP, and the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign argue the projects would increase air and water pollution and would disproportionately harm predominantly Black and Latinx residents. The $500 billion joint venture of Smithfield and Dominion Energy would cover four facilities "in the low-lying, flood-prone coastal plain of eastern North Carolina," the complaint says. The region is home to the highest concentration of industrial hog operations in the U.S. where massive lagoons of hog waste are vulnerable to hurricanes. (InsideClimate News, Climate Signals background: Hurricanes)

(ENVIRONMENTAL) RACISM: How financial institutions engineered climate injustice and the clean energy colorline (Environmental Health News), ‘it’s like no one is looking for us’: How can states help when women of color go missing? (The 19th* News)

COP26: With weeks to go before the global climate summit, pressure is on Biden administration for a legislative win (CBS), carbon markets see promise and peril from COP26 (Energy Monitor), UN climate talks a 'catalyst' for action to curb warming -report (Reuters)

INFRASTRUCTURE BILL(S): Poll shows Black support for climate spending (Axios), Biden's climate agenda is hanging by a thread (Axios), carbon tax fight brews among Democrats (E&E News), progressives hold firm on opposing infrastructure bill without vow to pass Build Back Better Act (Democracy Now), Democrats search for sweet spot below $3.5 trillion price tag (The Hill), Democrats weigh first nationwide fee on plastic in U.S. budget negotiations (Reuters), Gottheimer sunny on infrastructure vote despite progressive threats (Politico Pro $), meet the CEPP, the biggest federal climate policy you’ve never heard of (Grist), Pelosi leaves room to delay infrastructure vote (The Hill), Republicans at odds over infrastructure bill as vote approaches (New York Times $), infrastructure deal threatens to undercut key environmental law (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Senate parliamentarian deals fresh immigration blow to Dems (AP)

• MANCHINEMA: How Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for natural gas could derail Biden’s US climate plan (The Conversation), Sinema viewed unfavorably by one-third of Arizona Democrats in poll (The Hill), Rep. Ro Khanna asks of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: 'What does she want?' (MSNBC)

LINE 3: Controversial Line 3 'substantially' done; oil to flow Friday, Enbridge says (Star Tribune $, The Hill, AP, Politico Pro $, Duluth News-Tribune, KARE, Reuters)

ACTIVISM: Latin America now deadliest place in the world for environmental activists (NBC), striking to survive (Atmos)

👋 : Bye, bye, Mr. Exxon guy (Earther)

CRICKETS: What is 'green land grabbing' - and why is it surging in Brazil? (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

PUBLIC OPINION: For the first time, most Americans say global warming is currently harming US (Truthout)

AGENCIES: USDA looks to tap Commodity Credit Corp. for climate pilots next year (Politico Pro $), USDA pledges billions for climate-smart farm projects, resilience (E&E News)

• EPA: EPA’s 'scientific integrity' program lacks teeth, group alleges (Environmental Health News), Watchdog: EPA lacks agencywide plan to tackle algal blooms (E&E $)
• DOI: Interior seeks input on conservation atlas (E&E $)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH: SEC proposal seeks transparency in how money managers wield vast voting power (Wall Street Journal $)

LAWSUITS: Biden urges SCOTUS not to take Volkswagen appeal (Politico Pro $)

THE HILL: Congress looks to stave off shutdown, but solution for surface programs still in question (Politico Pro $), Democratic disagreements imperil Biden agenda as shutdown looms (Reuters)

• HOUSE: Rep. Porter: ‘We have to deliver the entirety of the President’s agenda’ (MSNBC)
• SENATE: Elizabeth Warren says she will vote against second term for Fed’s Jerome Powell (Wall Street Journal $, MSNBC), Sen. Warren on getting all 50 Dem Senators on board with Biden agenda (MSNBC)

WHITE HOUSE: Gina McCarthy resets climate expectations for reconciliation package (E&E News)

POLITICS: GM CEO Mary Barra to lead Business Roundtable (Wall Street Journal $)

NOMINEES & CONFIRMATIONS: Senate advances Interior solicitor nominee (E&E $), Senate moves toward final showdown on BLM director nominee (E&E $)

CITIES AND STATES: How Republicans blocked cities from advancing climate solutions (Vox), activists want more air pollution monitoring near Massachusetts highways (Energy News Network), in Baltimore schools, cutting food waste as a lesson in climate awareness and environmental literacy (InsideClimate News), N.C. Republicans target tree canopy plans (E&E News)

• TEXAS: Texas [state] senators blast regulator for power grid winterization loophole lawmakers wrote into law (Texas Tribune, E&E $), Texas wants to strengthen the power grid. Are batteries the answer? (Houston Chronicle)
• NEW YORK: The backyard battle for New York’s climate future (The River), MTA facing fiscal peril if infrastructure bill does not pass: DiNapoli (New York Post) 

FERC: Clean energy gets a boost from FERC decision on controversial Trump-era rule (Canary Media), 3 takeaways from [Tuesday]'s FERC hearing (E&E News), FERC's Danly: Democrats' clean electricity plan an 'H-bomb' that would 'end the markets' (Utility Dive), is climate plan feasible? The question splits FERC members (E&E News), Manchin cautions FERC on shift from natural gas (Houston Chronicle), PJM market proposal passes by default as partisan deadlock paralyzes FERC (Politico Pro $)

IMPACTS: ‘Year of extremes’ (ABC), climate migration is here. Is Biden ready? (E&E News), insurers could resume flood coverage as federal rates rise (E&E $), privatization won't fix this (Earther), why climate change is making it harder to chase fall foliage (AP)

TEXAS FREEZE: 'Half of the family just disappeared overnight' (ProPublica)

HEAT: It’s nearly October, and the temperature hit 100 degrees in North Dakota (Washington Post $)

WILDFIRES: As California burns, America breathes toxic smoke (InsideClimate News), we mapped the rise in wildfire smoke across America. here’s how we did it (InsideClimate News), Lake Tahoe, sequoias survived wildfires thanks to forest thinning, but much more is needed, researchers say (Wall Street Journal $), Wildfire in Colorado mountains spreads but not toward homes (AP)

HURRICANES: How tropical storms and hurricanes have hit U.S. shores with unparalleled frequency (Washington Post $)

Hurricane Sam swirls over the Atlantic, while Tropical Storm Victor is forecast to form soon (Washington Post $, Yale Climate Connections, AP), 

• IDA: 'We can’t depend on the government’: mutual aid groups work to fill needs for immigrant communities after Ida (The Lens), Entergy's shares slump after Ida as regulators circle and climate risks spook investors (NOLA.com)

HOMESTEADING, BUT MAKE IT INSPIRATIONAL: Arctic explorers hope to inspire new generations to protect the frozen landscape (Yale Climate Connections)

WATER: Avoiding water bankruptcy in the drought-troubled Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other (The Conversation), Nationwide tests find lead in more than half of U.S. children (E&E $)

POLLUTION: Air pollution linked to millions of birth complications across the globe (Environmental Health News), US Steel was fined $1.2 million for polluting Lake Michigan. Then it polluted the lake again. (Grist)

RENEWABLES: Meet the Virginia conservationist trying to turn old coalfields into solar farms (Energy News Network), Biden renewables plan may hit floating tech troubles (E&E News), more renewables best answer to energy price surge, Europe power lobby hears (Reuters), Out to sea: on a floating wind farm (New York Times $), US trade officials delay decision on new solar tariffs (Reuters)

BATTERIES: North Carolina county zoning changes to affect Piedmont Lithium project (Reuters)

BUILDINGS: Paris shows how to make public housing greener and more habitable at the same time (Grist)

STORAGE: AES-Siemens joint venture Fluence joins raft of storage firms moving to go public (Utility Dive)

EFFICIENCY: Your next air conditioner is going to be different—and better—than your old one (Earther)

OIL & GAS: BP expands production from one of Gulf's largest oil fields (Houston Chronicle), Investors see natural-gas crunch spilling into crude market, lifting oil prices (Wall Street Journal $), from paints to plastics, a chemical shortage ignites prices (AP)

UTILITIES: SoCal residents blast SoCalGas plan to settle Aliso Canyon lawsuits for up to $1.8B, continue push for shutdown (Utility Dive), California utility energy savings goals now account for fuel-switching potential (Utility Dive), PSEG plans $900M in upgrades to 'last-mile' reliability, EV infrastructure (Utility Dive), top California utility regulator to resign amid multiple crises (E&E $)

GRID: What’s the trick to keep grids humming along on solar, wind and batteries alone? (Canary Media)

EVs: Electric bikes jolt U.S. cities (Axios), Lucid to begin deliveries of its Air luxury sedan next month (Axios), Rolls-Royce unveils first electric car, Spectre, and will go all-electric by 2030 (Electrek, USA Today, The Hill, Car and Driver, CNN, Road & Track)

AVIATION: To cut emissions, FAA moves to end long taxi times at 27 airports (Axios)

AGRICULTURE: UK permits development of gene-edited crops in climate fight (AP)

BUSINESS: Amazon settles with employees allegedly fired for criticizing working conditions (Reuters)

RELIGION: Pope praises young activists challenging world leaders on climate (The Hill, AP, Reuters)

FINANCE: Funds demand science-based emissions targets from 1,600 firms (Reuters), HSBC, Temasek launch debt financing platform for sustainable infrastructure (Reuters), VC firm Energize Ventures raises $330M to fund climate change action (Axios)

GRETA: ‘Blah, blah, blah’: Greta Thunberg lambasts leaders over climate crisis (The Guardian, Washington Post $, The Hill)

INTERNATIONAL: Global energy shortage or a coincidence of regional crises? (Reuters explainer), Brussels launches missions to address climate and sustainability issues (Politico Pro $), emission pledges by states put extra pressure on Scott Morrison to lift [Australian] climate goals (The Guardian), EU, Britain urge Russia to commit to net zero CO2 emissions (Reuters), Norway's centre-left Labour seeks to lead minority govt after Socialists ditch talks (Reuters), Panama aims to end coal imports, produce ethanol to cut emissions - minister (Reuters)

• UK: ‘Desperate choices’ this winter as three more UK energy suppliers toppled by price surge (The Guardian), climate change goals meet resistance in UK’s former coal country (Wall Street Journal $), UK’s home gas boilers emit twice as much CO2 as all power stations – study (The Guardian)
• CHINA: China’s power cuts shut down factories, fuel climate goal pushback (Washington Post $, Climate Home, Wall Street Journal $, The Guardian), China seeks to quell power crunch fears, as coal prices soar, winter nears (Reuters), China's metal consumers to feel supply sting from forced power cuts (Reuters), (Wall Street Journal $)
• SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa tells Western envoys it needs funds to shift from coal (Reuters), can South Africa become a model for developing nations ditching coal? (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

NEWS YOU CAN USE: The melting face emoji has already won us over (New York Times $)

• Joe Manchin, America’s climate decider-in-chief, is a coal baron (The Guardian, Mark Hertsgaard op-ed)
• Street vendors and garbage pickers need protection from climate extremes (Climate Home, Alice Sverdlik op-ed)
• Tomlinson: Texas' most powerful oil family also regulates the industry. That's a problem. (Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson column)
• EPA needs a real budget to rebuild, not a continuing resolution to keep It running in place (The Hill, David Coursen op-ed)
• Kyrsten Sinema’s latest moves pose a dire threat to Biden’s agenda (Washington Post, Greg Sargent column $)
• Washington can look to states for proof that investing in clean energy works (The Hill, Gregg Mast, Shane Totten, and Harry Godfrey op-ed)
• Union leader Sharan Burrow: How to convince governments to actually change (Politico, interview)
• Here’s why the Jan. 6 instigators must be punished (Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin column $)
• Oops...I Did It Again'- Lessons from another pipeline project cancellation (Houston Chronicle, Larry Shapiro and Sarah Thomas)
• Memo to centrists: Progressives aren’t your problem. Manchin and Sinema are. (Washington Post, Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent column $)
• It's time school buses went electric (Newsweek, Randi Weingarten op-ed)
• America’s rivers need help. I should know — I swam in 108 of them this summer. (Washington Post, Tierra Curry op-ed $)

Koch Koalition Komment on Car Mileage Standards Says It’s Easy To Manipulate Cost Estimates For Political Purposes, Does Exactly That

A coalition of Koch and other industry-funded groups recently submitted a comment on the EPA’s proposed automotive greenhouse gas emission standards, written by CEI’s Marlow Lewis and Patrick Michaels, along with Heritage Foundation's Kevin Dayaratna. 

Given the millions of dollars in fossil fuel industry funding behind the 11 groups whose logos grace the top of the comment pdf, you’d think they could afford someone to format it a little better. The FreedomWorks logo is still on the white-and-grey-grid of a “transparent” image background, and a hastily-screenshotted LifePowered logo has stray gray bars along the sides. 

The quality of the content does not improve much from there, as the professional deniers do their best to “challenge the plausibility of the EPA’s climate benefit estimates” of $91 billion dollars resulting from cleaner cars. 

Their first argument is one of ignorance, that any calculation of how much harm a ton of carbon dioxide does “is too speculative and assumption-driven to inform policy decisions.” Opponents of environmental action argued that a cost-benefit analysis was necessary back in the ‘80s, and now that evidence is clear that policies to address climate and other environmental problems provide far more benefits than they do costs. All of a sudden, cost-benefit analyses can’t be trusted! 

“Indeed,” the groups wrote, “[social cost of carbon] estimates are easily manipulated for political purposes.” They then go on to illustrate exactly how, by making a bunch of ridiculous assumptions (like that EPA should ignore global benefits of emissions reductions because the costs are domestic in a transparent bid to deny the global nature of global warming). They also claim that the “agricultural and ecological benefits of carbon dioxide” are ignored, even though they’re not. (Those benefits are just tiny compared to the costs!) 

So yes, if you manipulate the calculations that go into the social cost of carbon for political purposes, like by pretending that the climate isn’t actually very sensitive to carbon dioxide, like they do, you can come up with whatever answer you want!

And the answer that a coalition of groups funded by fossil fuel polluters wants is that actually carbon pollution is a good thing, so sure enough, that’s what they claim! 

Fortunately, now that the fossil fuel industry’s lobbyists aren’t in charge of the EPA any more, odds are slim this sort of stupidity will find any traction. But that’s not going to stop the Koch network from spinning its wheels!

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